FROM THE GIRL WHO'S BEEN IN YOUR SHOES
Hey there! My name is Danielle, I’m a blogger at my appropriately titled site “Danielle Joynt”, I’m a part time bible college student and I am the children’s pastor at the greatest church in the whole entire world (there is not one bit of bias in that statement at all ;))
My life hasn’t always been bubblegum and milkshakes as much as it may seem to some. I write in the hopes that something I might type will impact even just one person.
I’m about to be real with you for a moment, okay?
To the girl that’s struggling with friendships – this one’s for you.
You have some peers that you spend your lunch breaks with. You laugh at their jokes, you crack some yourself, you share your food with each other and you take a tone of crazy photos together. You have lots of only-in-class-friends who make you laugh till you cry almost every period. You’re making memories and having fun BUT you still feel like these aren’t… your people.
You find that you’re friends with almost everyone, there is always someone to talk to – someone to hang out with. There are very few people that you don’t get along with but there are a couple of girls that you just can’t seem to mix with. The jokes get taken too far or your personalities just clash. Everyone hates drama and the more you end up in conflict with these girls, the more you’re worried no one else is going to want to be friends with you either. You switch friend groups in the hopes of getting away from it all but you find yourself having to start fresh. Maybe these new people will be your people?
The new friends soon become your not-so-new friends, you are together everyday and your weekends are spent immersed in your group chat. You sync your Netflix binge watching so you can talk about how much you hate Georgina Sparks the next time you see each other. You call each other best friends but don’t hang out as much as you would like to. You go on trips together, stay up till endless hours of the morning at your sleepovers and gossip about boys. Are these the people you’ve been waiting for?
Graduation comes around and you still find yourself looking at everyone else wishing that you had what they had. Weren’t these supposed to be those friends that stuck around forever? If so, why have you stopped seeing each other regularly and how come you barely hang out at school anymore? If your extra curricular activities are pulling you apart now, how on earth are you going to stay in contact when you no longer see each other everyday? Stress. Anxiety. Maybe these weren’t your people after all.
You graduate feeling excited to start a new chapter but at the same time feeling sad knowing that you are no longer going to be with these friends of yours. You continue to pray before bed each night asking God to please bring along those people that you’ve been praying for for years. You’ve finally left everything behind, you’ve grown up, you are ready for those people who just understand and fully accept you for who you are. Please God. I trust You.
A couple of months later, it’s now summer vacation. You find yourself surrounded by people you knew in high school and hung out with occasionally but weren’t ever very close with. One of the girls you had beef with is now one of your best friends. You go on some of the best trips and adventures you have ever been on, you have some of the most fun you have had in all of your years of schooling. You find yourself standing back one day with a big grin plastered across your face. Your heart feels like it’s going to burst from all of the love you have for these people you are now spending your days with. You try to think back to the first night you all started hanging out with each other – you can’t pinpoint a particular moment apart from the weekend of your last day of school. It’s as if God suddenly flicked a switch. “I have heard you, I have always heard you. I was preparing you for this moment.”
You are now spending time with the people you want to be surrounded by. You love them, they love you. These are your people. They were well worth the wait.
Keep praying. Even if it feels like you’re waiting a long time, God is there, he hears you. You might want to find your people now BUT God knows what he’s doing. His timing is far greater and more impacting than anything we could want in our time. Remember that.
You will find them, they’re out there. Just be patient.
From, a girl who has been in your shoes.
My life hasn’t always been bubblegum and milkshakes as much as it may seem to some. I write in the hopes that something I might type will impact even just one person.
I’m about to be real with you for a moment, okay?
To the girl that’s struggling with friendships – this one’s for you.
You have some peers that you spend your lunch breaks with. You laugh at their jokes, you crack some yourself, you share your food with each other and you take a tone of crazy photos together. You have lots of only-in-class-friends who make you laugh till you cry almost every period. You’re making memories and having fun BUT you still feel like these aren’t… your people.
You find that you’re friends with almost everyone, there is always someone to talk to – someone to hang out with. There are very few people that you don’t get along with but there are a couple of girls that you just can’t seem to mix with. The jokes get taken too far or your personalities just clash. Everyone hates drama and the more you end up in conflict with these girls, the more you’re worried no one else is going to want to be friends with you either. You switch friend groups in the hopes of getting away from it all but you find yourself having to start fresh. Maybe these new people will be your people?
The new friends soon become your not-so-new friends, you are together everyday and your weekends are spent immersed in your group chat. You sync your Netflix binge watching so you can talk about how much you hate Georgina Sparks the next time you see each other. You call each other best friends but don’t hang out as much as you would like to. You go on trips together, stay up till endless hours of the morning at your sleepovers and gossip about boys. Are these the people you’ve been waiting for?
Graduation comes around and you still find yourself looking at everyone else wishing that you had what they had. Weren’t these supposed to be those friends that stuck around forever? If so, why have you stopped seeing each other regularly and how come you barely hang out at school anymore? If your extra curricular activities are pulling you apart now, how on earth are you going to stay in contact when you no longer see each other everyday? Stress. Anxiety. Maybe these weren’t your people after all.
You graduate feeling excited to start a new chapter but at the same time feeling sad knowing that you are no longer going to be with these friends of yours. You continue to pray before bed each night asking God to please bring along those people that you’ve been praying for for years. You’ve finally left everything behind, you’ve grown up, you are ready for those people who just understand and fully accept you for who you are. Please God. I trust You.
A couple of months later, it’s now summer vacation. You find yourself surrounded by people you knew in high school and hung out with occasionally but weren’t ever very close with. One of the girls you had beef with is now one of your best friends. You go on some of the best trips and adventures you have ever been on, you have some of the most fun you have had in all of your years of schooling. You find yourself standing back one day with a big grin plastered across your face. Your heart feels like it’s going to burst from all of the love you have for these people you are now spending your days with. You try to think back to the first night you all started hanging out with each other – you can’t pinpoint a particular moment apart from the weekend of your last day of school. It’s as if God suddenly flicked a switch. “I have heard you, I have always heard you. I was preparing you for this moment.”
You are now spending time with the people you want to be surrounded by. You love them, they love you. These are your people. They were well worth the wait.
Keep praying. Even if it feels like you’re waiting a long time, God is there, he hears you. You might want to find your people now BUT God knows what he’s doing. His timing is far greater and more impacting than anything we could want in our time. Remember that.
You will find them, they’re out there. Just be patient.
From, a girl who has been in your shoes.